Qaeda-linked group claims deadly Tajikistan attack: Report

Dushanbe: An al Qaeda-linked Islamist
militant group claimed responsibility on Thursday for a deadly
ambush on a military convoy in Tajikistan last week in which
at least 28 soldiers were killed.

A spokesman for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
said the attack was revenge for Dushanbe`s cooperation with
NATO forces fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan, in a video
sent to Radio Ozodi, the Tajik-language service of Radio
Liberty.

"The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan took responsibility
for the attack on the ministry of defence convoy that occurred
last week, during which 25 soldiers were killed," Radio Ozodi
said after reviewing the video.

Tajikistan`s defence ministry said the official death
toll from the attack, which had previously been put at 25, had
climbed to 28 after three soldiers died from their wounds
Wednesday.

Tajikistan, a majority-Muslim country and the poorest
state to emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly
two decades ago, has suffered a string of attacks recently
that the government blames on Islamist militants.

The country`s deadliest attack this year occurred Sunday
when insurgents ambushed a military convoy in the mountainous
Rasht Valley region some 250 kilometres (150 miles) east of
the capital Dushanbe.